An ankle by any other name

We open up in the doctor’s office, sitting opposite Doctor Sanderson was Melissa Aki. Since she broke her ankle and ruptured all the ligaments and tendons, as a precaution she was asked by management to get it checked on a bi-weekly basis. So here she was with this beefcake of a man, all muscles and no substance but with the most sensitive hands she had ever known.

“Let me know if this hurts, okay Maks?” He said.

Her response was an orgasmic squeal. “All good boss man. Weee... your hands.”

He noticed that she was wearing a white sports top but he couldn’t figure out where it was from.

“So, that shirt, is it a sports team?”

“Mmm yes it is. The mighty Tottenham Hotspurs.”

He continued rotating her ankle and just smiled thinly. “Is that some european basketball team? I love that name. It’s so badass!”

She rolled her eyes first in annoyance and then in ecstasy. “Football team or as you morons call it...Soccer. I suggest you watch them, there is a great clip of us beating fellow Londoners Millwall on youtube. Go watch it later.

“Hmmph. Not my thang you know. But yes to the jersey. I don’t see much more wear and tear since your last visit. Didn’t you have a match?

Her enigmatic face turned into her infamous scowl, “Pardon my french but that basic bitch faked out. The match is delayed and all because she is running scared. I get it, I do Doc, she has never faced anyone as terrifying as little ol’ me. To bail just before I decimate her in my own match galls me to no end. She will get hers eventually and I will break those fake cheekbones if it's the last thing I do!

He looked like he was sorry he asked but the ankle was responding well. “Now I hope you have not been overdoing it on the ankle. Remember, no severe pressure on it at all. Your career could depend on it.”

She laughed loudly, “Dude, I am a wrestler so yeah I have to put weight on it but I try not to do too much. My career? You mean the laughing stock I have made out of a stellar career I once had? I am winding down the career as it is and Crystal may well be my last ever victim. So no worries on that score.

“That would be a shame at such a young age but you know what’s best for your career. Alright, all looks good. You can put your sneakers back on now. We will be seeing you in two weeks. Go ask Larachelle to book your next appointment. Have a fun weekend and do not put too much pressure on your ankle. Have a nice day, Maks!”

She got up and left, in a far worse mood than when she entered. Such is life.

The Masks We wear

Sitting on her veranda, Melissa day dreamed of London. Hearing that they had early sunshine and heat there made her miss it all the more. Life was different there than the plastic fantastic life in California. Her only link to that was Hannah, her sister, who hated her more than she hated herself. Her life here had meaning, she had a lovely home, a beautiful and psychotic wife, a demoness defiling her from within but what was it all for if she wasn’t happy. Her career had stagnated and she could barely get herself pumped up to wrestle anymore but now she had a chance to resurrect her career.

“No matter who I face I give it my all. Once upon a time I was locked up in an asylum and had violent therapy and still it did not improve me, except I won a title there by beating my now wife. Yet, somehow, I am locked away again in my own asylum of my mind. Stuck reliving those recent failures but it has made me wonder, maybe we all are trapped by our own insecurities. Yes, even that squashed up wine gum, Candy. I have beaten this hack before and I will beat her again but I could beat her without being pinned but then that harlot Kwan could rob me off my chance but this portion is not about that prima donna who thinks she has more talent than she actually does. This is about Candy. In all triple threat threesomes, there is one that is just along for the ride, one that is only there to make up the number and to eventually submit to the carnal desires of the others, use her and then dump her out the window like the trash she is. Candy, you really think this match will be fun because you love wrestling? Of course you do, you ingrate, otherwise why would you even be signed to a contract here or even call yourself a wrestler, even if you are half arse it all the time.I am tired of the merry-go-round of facing you and defeating you. Listen, for your own good, do a Crystal and bail before your life is taken into the hands of the demoness and all you will be is a pool of melted cadburys.  You wont believe it is fun for long after myself and this miscreant rip your kindness out of your empty shell. You vacuous, moronic slapper. Yet, I do believe you are wearing this mask for a reason. You want the world to see you as this airhead so you get attention I would wager. Yet, there must be a seething resentment when you see people leapfrog you up the echelons of SCW. This is what I want to bring out. I want to take your soul and rip it in two and see what happens to the fun loving Candy then!”

She paused as she tried to muster the image of the Japanese sensation, Char Kwan.


“Char, you were unlucky in that Queen match. You did better than I expected of you. Of course, Alicia Lukas is one tough bitch but still one I HAVE beaten before, so please don’t be too hard on yourself, yes you failed big time but in the end rack it up to being part of the learning tree, yeah?

Kwany, I know behind that beautiful mask you wear, there is a woman that struggles. I have known about it for a long time. You struggle with the way you are perceived as why else would you feel the need to harp on about how vicious you are or will be,   unless you fear the ridicule of the people that do not matter to you. Why? I ask myself why. This girl can be as ruthless as they come so why does she care? Kwany…let me change tact. Heh. I chose you, you are the chosen one for a reason. You see, you are proving yourself to be a worthy  adversary But. Memory falters in this den of sin.”[/color]


She smiled as her thoughts raced to the roles of masks in humanity. “I chose you, Kwany, because you are a failure. Yes, I chose to face you in this match. It was my decision. I chose you because not even you believe you can win one of those damned shiny trinkets. I chose you because mentally you are shot. I could easily crawl inside your head, make it my home and in the next two weeks slowly and methodically tear apart your pathetic psyche. But what would be the point of that when you have done it to yourself. On the other hand…” She turned her head from left to right as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. “I shall enjoy breaking your face. Stupid clown face. I heard from one of the stupid interns I struck up a friendship with that you are highly thought of here, that the big momma slammers see you as a future Roulette champion. You will be without a face, you will fail as always, and you are just a cuckold mother jammer that does not deserve to share sweat or even touch my future championship. How dare you think you can take the championship? There is only one person who CAN take it and that’s me. You do get under people’s skin and to quote the Beastie Boys, ‘I am going to stir fry you in my wok!”

She laughed manically,  “Go fuck yourself, nutjob. HAHAHHAHA Maki is in the house! Whatcha gonna do when Maki runs wild on you?!”

She suddenly and inexplicably holds her hand out and starts to skip in a circular motion, as she sings “Ring-a-ring-a-roses,A pocket full of posies, a tissue, a tissue, We all fall down.
The king has sent his daughter to fetch a pail of water. A tissue, a tissue. We all fall down”She drops to the floor of the veranda “Again. Again.” She says to herself.

“Death is coming for you, Kwany. Every time you look at me as I slowly beat you to your own death, the death of your ego, with these very boots, you will see the maker, the one who bestowed on you this despicable life that you want to escape from day after day. Even when I allow you to hurt me it is with the goal of breaking you, taking you to the point of evisceration. I am the same as that song, from the mouths of babes. You see, it is a song about the epidemic of death in the 1600’s but this is the first time you have come face to face with the black death, Kwany. I am going to annihilate you, embarrass you, rip that smug fucked up face and even worse, I am going to make an example out of you.”

A look of concern and intrigue crossed her face like a ghost, wandering through different dimensions and time looking for a new home to haunt.

“I will not lose in my shot at the roulette title again. I will not taint what I have achieved. So you can all line up and thank me especially you Kwany. You see, in the public’s eyes you are just a joke.. A person of ridicule, the nearly woman of Sin City, the loveable loser. That’s all you have ever been here. I am not like these other monosyllabic primadonna’s, I will not sugar coat anything, I will not give you the false sense of belief the dickheads give you just to laugh behind your back. I will not make you feel accepted because I might share food with you in catering, I couldn’t care less about you. You’re just the first step as I hold that damn title here so just lay down and let this juggernaut run over you because resistance is futile.“

She smiled, disconcertingly, this was more like Melissa Aki who had made her name in the world of wrestling. Had her thoughts of retirement spurred her on to new heights? Only time would tell.

Distrust

Life had taken an extraordinary turn. Maki had made herself believe, to trust someone she knew could not be trusted. It had been a few months since the guy had tried to attack her when she was putting Bea Barnhart away, yet, the belief was there and they had won a couple of matches only to come unstuck and with that her ambitions of being champion of the internet had gone up in smoke as well as a chance at the bombshells title. This had gone more tits up than Chrystal Rose in the Sin City Head Office. She was so mad and this simpleton, whoever she was that Maki had to face, was going to face her full ire.

She sat at the Au Lac vietnamese vegan restaurant in downtown L.A in a pink halter top, dark black jeans and black ankle boots. She had full makeup on and put her hair in bunches. Across from her in an Alexander McQueen purple gown with her own ankle boots was Melissa’s sister Hannah. They were waiting for their starters as Hannah gulped down some coconut water and gagged and spat it all out on Maki’s face. She was very displeased.

“The actual flub!” She wiped her face with a napkin, her makeup ran across her face and she looked like her in-ring persona. “You’re such a salty bish you know that!”

Hannah smiled but it made her face look strange, with her head shaved and the skin wrinkled around her skull, “Melly, stop being a petulant child. To think I am the younger sister! Oh and stop using childish words for swears. It is not cute. Why did they give me coconut water for crying out loud. Luckily I didn’t get it on my own mug!”

Maki shook her head sadly. She didn’t know why she constantly put herself through this torture with her overly bitchy sister. It was always drama and she never helped her work through her issues. All she needed was someone to lean on and talk to who she trusted but it was plain she couldn’t trust her either.

As she was about to talk, a vietnamese woman in her thirties who was quite good looking underneath the mask, placed two bowls, vietnamese soup spoons and chopsticks for the pair. She pressed her hands together, she and Maki did the namaste as Hannah looked disgusted at her bowl. Melissa sat back and watched as Hannah brought up a round ball that looked like meat from her soup.

“What the hell is this, Melly? This isn’t the slightest thing like meat!

“IT’S A FLUBBING MOTHERJAMMING VEGAN RESTAURANT YOU BUFFOON!” Everyone turned around at their tables, she shot them a look and in a more hushed tone caiied on again, “I have carried you on my back like a fallen soldier. Literally, my whole flubbing life. I am tired of it. When I need emotional support I turn to Yukiko and want to know why? Of course you don’t but I will tell you anyway. She supports me, listens to me, holds me when I need to be held, shouts at me and argues with me when I am wrong but you...what do you ever do but belittle and antagonize me. Yes I messed up when I tried to kill myself but instead of making my life hell you should be happy that I am ALIVE you ungrateful little whore!”

Maki threw the hot soup on her sister's face and then slammed the bowl off the side of her head, blood started to pour as her head slumped onto the table. Maki threw down some dollar bills, gave everyone in the restaurant her usual evil glare and then whispered into her sister’s right bedazzled ear, “I distrust you, this is the last moment you will ever see of me, so feel that pain, feel that sorrow because that is all you have ever given me. I am not your surrogate to abuse anymore. It is now Maki vs the world!”

She stormed out and almost broke the hinges off the door, turned the corner and leaned against a sidewall and let out a sigh of relief. This has been coming and she had foolishly trusted people like her sister, like co-workers, management, tag team partners and now it was plainly obvious that this stupid dependency on others had been the downfall for her. It was time to do it alone, to be the woman she was, the mother jamming internet sensation, the one time so-called best in the world and it was high time she became that again. Whether it was myra or some unknown closet psycho she would annihilate everyone in her way.

The Seraphim

We open up inside an octagon, meshed in steel, Melissa Aki in shorts and a sports bra, practicing her Makihouse Kicks, her knees, forearm strikes, on various random people from the Makihouse Gym she owns in downtown Santa Barbara. She rolled out of the far door of the Octagon. She tied her ponytail tighter, grabbed a vitamin water bottle and downed it as she wiped the sweat from her face and sat down on a stool. She looked up at us, rolled her eyes, composed herself for a moment and a thin smile spread across her lips.

“I have been pacing back and forth, going over what happened two weeks ago, the hyperbolic bullshit that Myra Rivers has been spouting across twitter, being let down AGAIN by a so-called partner. This is exactly why I do not do tag matches. I carried him the quarter finals and when it came down to it he couldn’t even beat a batman villain rip-off. Myra went after my ankle, which as you know, kept me out of wrestling for four months, so I wasn’t able to bail his sorry arse out once again. I gotta say I would have done the same thing Myra, so I cannot get mad at your for that course of action, yet, your words to try to humiliate me rankle with me. You are a top champion, a great wrestler but your filthy attitude needs adjusting. So much so that I am now going to make it my quest in life to take that Internet championship from you and stop you progressing in Blast From The Past. I am going to haunt you, I am going to turn up and distract you and even if it is not me winning the god damn title then I will take solace in the fact I made you lose it and then I will defeat that ingrate and win that flubbing title. This is not over Myra. Not by a long shot. I am going to Makihouse Kick you as many times, and mention it as many times as I want, until I decapitate your head clean off your shoulders. That is a fact and I will happily go to prison for it. Welcome to your own version of black mirror! Every waking step I will be there and if I cannot then I will send the lovely Daniela to do it for me. You cannot escape. You are now firmly bound and gagged, hogtied to your inglorious future.”

She grabbed another bottle of water, as some man started to massage her thighs. Once he was done, she shooed him away and stared straight at the camera as it zoomed into her eyes which were black as night.

“Lucy Seraphina. Oh I know the name. I have heard it whispered, banded around for a long time but it wasn’t until I researched you, Luce, that I realised what a competitor I have before me on Sunday. You did well when you were here previously. Tag Champ. Internet champ. Seems like they give that title to anyone these days. A great history in other promotions as champion bit like me. This means do I not only have to watch out for your moves but now I know we have the similar killer instinct. Finally, someone who matches me, who will give hundred percent and will go for the kill but I can see the obvious overconfidence this brings. Literally, everyone I have ever faced has underestimated me. They were bigger, stronger, fatter, older, younger. You name it but what everyone did by the end of the match, whether they hated me, liked me or were indifferent, was to respect me and what I bring to the table because week in and week out I produce magic, I raise the flubbing roof off every arena I am in, i set fire to all the barns and am talked about forever, so yeah disrespect me, get your ego massaged and see what happens Lucia. One other interesting point to make is that she and I have another similarity.

“The obvious answer is that we are both cray. We both believe we have something inside us, that when we unleash it pure mayhem happens. I have a demoness and you have the beast. Imagine the unmitigated violence that could come forth in this match and it makes me salivate. I want your beast to come out in full force and let my Daniela take it on. How delicious would that be? Yet, I do not believe you will unleash this beast but maybe I can force your hand, maybe I will bust you wide open and lick every last morsel of your blood from your weakened skull. Maybe that will unleash it or maybe a little cute hairline fracture could do it. It doesn’t matter how good you are in that ring, if your inner beast comes out or not, whether Daniela comes out but I will be victorious for no other reason than I have to. I cannot slander Myra, I cannot take away what she values the most with a loss here. If I lose I become the biggest loser since Christina Rose Hilton Zdunich or whatever you want to call her became champion, I will be just as lost as the fans after all Evie and Alicia did to add value to it. I cannot allow this to happen. So burn me, break me, slice me in half, it will not change the outcome because I am not anyone’s fool anymore and when the bell rings your whole soul will be in jeopardy. I do not take you lightly but I have to win and I will win as there is no other jamming option!”

We fade to static as Maki storms away.





 

Old Folks Home 

There was a red headed nurse, who was in her 40’s, on reception and was standing and looking at a computer screen with her colleagues as geriatric residents milled about, trying to get the last seat in front of the television to catch some Jeopardy reruns. The nurse looked up from the screen and across the lobby to the living room where the residents were talking so very slowly and missing all the questions from the television.

She did a quick head count and realised there were some missing people. She strode across the lobby, click clacking, as her heels hit the wooden floor, stood stock still, she was shocked. She had lost at least eight residents! Then it struck her. The missing residents were all men. There were just women watching. Where had the men gone. She immediately pulled out her walkie, “This is not a drill. We are missing eight male residents. Code RED!”

As she finished, the women shushed her as they couldn’t concentrate on her voice, jeopardy and the knitting they were doing for their grandchildren. Security guards, nurses, orderlies were rushing hither and tither in their search for the old men, but they were nowhere to be found but then the ginger nurse named Matilda spotted something on the grainy CCTV. Down in the barrels of the building, through a crawl space, to a utility bunker, there was a line of geriatric men outside of the room all eating oranges and spilling the juice from them down their mothball covered sweatshirts. It made her curious. Why were they waiting, what were they waiting for, how could they stand for that long? Like, how did they even get there? So many questions assaulted her mind.

 She pointed at each one and counted that there were only six. Could two men be in that room? She used the joystick next to the monitors to zoom in and there was a laminated card on the door which read ‘BFTP – Practice session’ what the hell did that mean? Then she zoomed in at the bottom of the card and it read, ‘With Melissa Aki.’ Who the hell is Melissa Aki? Is she a female pied piper?

She then went to a different screen, pressed a few keys on the keyboard and then used the joystick to rewind to 08:17 am. A stunning looking Asian woman, in a green nurse’s scrubs, strode into the building, nodding and smiling to security, to the other nurses. She entered the mess hall, so Matilda then skipped to the camera in the eating hall, this evil Asian woman was now talking to all the men, whispering to them. She couldn’t hear what this devil had said but they lined up behind her now and then whoa! Matilda jumped back a little as the evil Asian women stared at the camera, her eyes black, blood pouring from the corners of her almond shape eyes, some black blood?

 It came from her mouth and then a silent scream, her mouth opening like in a Tim Burton film and then closing again back to normal. Her whole body was back to normal and she marched out of the room with the men following her in single file.

Matilda was a redheaded Latina and knew she was distinctive and had been called a demon so much in her life by other Latin people but here she knew she had seen the devil and it walked in this poor woman’s body. She knew what she had to do.  She grabbed the walkie again, “Glenn, follow me. We are going to rescue these men from the demon!” A bout of static over the airwaves, then…“Beats sitting here all day watching Superstore reruns. Be therein five.” 

They found the crawlspace and do whatever anyone does in such an area, they crawled slowly through it, hopped down, as Glenn admired Matilda’s behind. The image in front of them was shocking, as if the geriatrics lining up ahead, had all been lobotomised. She pushed her way through the mena nd then came the door, which she flung open and her olfactory senses were engulfed with the smell of sweat, fear and mildew. The smell of the old in a confined space. Glenn seemed to have disappeared as she looked behind her before entering what was generally and old man’s fight club with one exception, which was a beautiful Asian woman with a clothes peg on her nose, in just her underwear fighting the old men!

She stepped forward and realised all the men were fighting in their trousers and sweatshirts. Then it became abundantly clear this woman was wrestling these men but why? She had a whistle around her neck, brought it to her lips and blew it. The Asian woman stopped but an old man didn’t have his hearing aid in and kept trying to chop the woman, she brushed him off whilst staring daggers at Matilda.

“Wanna explain why you cut off my training, you flubbing moron?” Maki was very displeased at the interruption, “Don’t stand there gawking at me. Answer me you motherjammer!”Matilda ushered out the old men, then closed the door and stepped into the wrestling circle Maki had made with duct tape,

  “Training? These are senile old men. You could have killed them. Their hearts would have given out just looking at you and then you beat them up and call it training. I should call the cops!” She grabbed her phone and Maki in one swift motion Makihouse kicked the phone out of her hand. Matilda held her hand and screamed in agony. This made Melissa soften somewhat. “Look love, it is not every day I need to team up with an old man in the ring. Obviously someone as world renowned as myself cannot just rock up somewhere and team with a geriatric. I have the fans around the world expecting me to be in such a bad position that I might lose. Which, you know, is like totally unforgiveable. What else could I do but prepare to wrestle with equally geriatric men?”Melissa wondered if this woman had any leanings towards women so she fluttered her eyelashes, bent towards her so she could show her cleavage but this Matilda woman just locked eyes. She should be looking at Maki’s boobs not her eyes. Flubbing Damnation!

“Okay, whoever you are,” She said while Maki scoffed at the notion this woman didn’t know who she was. “These are old men and time is not on their side. I don’t care who you are teaming with or who you must wrestle but you could have fought old men who were trained like you are. This is unacceptable. I am going to call the cops. You could have killed them!

Matilda turned and bent down to grab her phone with her good hand and as she straightened back up Melissa hit her with a Makihouse kick from behind and then locked in the Land of Hope and Glory crossface chickenwing until Matilda passed out from the pain. Bloody women. Always sticking their nose into her business. The thought occurred to her that maybe she had someone who had already called the police. She grabbed her clothes and hightailed it out of the room. At least she had some measure of what she would have to team with in the Blast From The Past match and it didn’t erase her concerns.

 Up A Creek Without A Paddle 

 It had been a week since Daniela had tried her latest haunting trick, scratching the walls of Maki’s home, random candles lighting, television sets being turned on when she and her wife were asleep.

 Of course, time is different for Demons so she could just be a millisecond for her, or she was reaping someone else’s soul. As Melissa walked down the stairs to the ground floor the was a base of fire on the wooden floor and as she got closer, she could read the name in the fire as ‘Jessie.’ Daniela was not done with that brazen hussy but as far as Maki was concerned, she had moved on.

There were so many talented women she wanted to fight and of course morons like the Bombshells champion. She still couldn’t believe that Crystal had won it. After all Evie and Alicia had done to elevate that championship it was back down into the gutter again. She did hope at some point she might have a shot at it because, hell, she knew she could beat that charlatan anytime she wanted. She did have a sense of pride at how well Amber had done and she knew it was a matter of time until someone great like her was champion again. She wanted her rematch with Amber but only in the right setting.

As her thoughts went a mile a minute, she noticed the fire dissipated. She went over to her couch and mused trying to summon Daniela.  It was time all these stupid hauntings were put to rest and she had the demon inside her again. She giggled to herself at that thought. Instead, her thoughts turned to the laptop in front of her. She tied her hair back into a very high bob and switched it on. It was getting closer to Climax Control and she had a promo to cut. “It’s Blast From The Past time. Now my opponents and especially all you fans out there who have been asking why I have not been on the past couple of shows want to know what has happened. Nothing. I had come back from an ankle injury, I have defeated everyone who has stepped up to me since then, except for that Miles performace, so I took some stock of where I am and I now feel finally like I am getting back to my A game. Also, being paired with an old loser, I need to prepare, and we need to prepare so I went and trained with him and with other geriatrics because I am a born winner and I aim to win this tournament.

She paused to straighten her tank top and mulled over a thought in her head. “I am not the disingenuous kind of person who believes in belittling the participants in this tournament. That is just a breeding ground for the flubbing losers who cannot see past their own inflated egos. You see, all you so-called bad girls and guys, you do this incessantly and you know what it does to the tournament? It makes a mockery out of it. What if you won it after belittling everyone then it tarnishes your accomplishment, no? I may say some things that are classed as derogatory, but it is part of the mind games I am proficient in. When it comes to this Blast From The Past there are some very good teams and to beat them we will have to be at our optimum but I am focussed because I want that title shot!”

Having a Mixed Tag team title shot which was eventually ruined by the lacklustre performance from Miles had lit a fire under her. She was so close to having a title and the first one in Sin City that she knew now she needed a title, she needed to know she was one of the best in this place, even though, obviously she was, she still had that doubt after that debacle of a performance against that minger Salco. Now she realised the only way forward was to get a title, any title and specifically the Bombshells world title but she was not averse to knocking off Myra or anyone else. She came here to win titles and she will win them dammit!

“ I have been paired with Bill Barnhart. What is it they call you? The Bulldog? I have to admit I have been around bulldogs, they are so cute and cuddly. I also remember a match when I decimated Bea is it? I distinctly remember you attacking me on the outside and constantly trying to interfere. I must say I was taken aback by your brazen flouting of the rules, but I got my own back when I knocked Bea out cold so no hold feelings buckaroo. Just do not flub me over in this match. I know I will have to do all the work like I did in the mixed tag title match, I get you are an old never was and usually I hate all these dastardly nincompoops who ride my coattails but with your age and possibility of a heart attack or stroke it should be me who does all the work. Just think of it like it is my donation to help the aged.  Do not mess up when you have the chance in the ring. I will not accept that, and it could lead to me delivering my own Makihouse Kick to you. It’s a fair warning and you should heed it.  This is going to be a really hard match to win and personally I hate having to rely on a partner which is why I hate tag matches but the end of the rainbow is my own pot of gold and we need to risea bove whatever they throw at us, so Bill, do not fail me like Miles did.”

Her thoughts turned to her opponents as she sipped on her mint green tea. She knew one of them very well but the other stumped her. She paused recording and started to hit google but with little success. This bothered her. She hated not doing her homework on her rivals. She needed to get this done so she hit record again.

“I have to say I know little about Joshua Aquin and I hate that. I probably should have found a way to get his back catalogue of misfortunes but alas I didn’t and there is nothing on him on google. Twitter lead me down some weird and mysterious winding road and I again came up empty. Do I not like that! Anyway, Joshua it matters little how tough you are, how much pain you can inflict because we both know you will want to face the old man but there is nothing you can do about me. I will take you apart legally and illegally because unlike anyone else you ever faced I am all about winning and it does not matter one jot to me how I do it, how disgraceful the means to achieve it is, all that is important is that we win and you lose. You and I know that this match is not really about all four of us but is about the two womeni n this match. You two ignorant morons can keep going on about whatever but we all know that the water carriers of this match are myself and Marlowe. That is what it will come down to so go have a picnic with Bill while we tear this motherjamming house down!”

Her thoughts raced to Marlowe and a smile spread across her lips. She knew she had that drama queen right where she wanted. This was how they would win this match.

“Samantha Marlowe. How are you, pet? Looking forward to some shenanigans on Sunday? You know, Sammy, I have travelled around the world working for various companies and each single one has had some lifer, some woman that they all state is a legend in their company, they all say how I will lose and she will destroy me and yet I always somehow find a way to win. You are one of these people. Maybe you spent a lot of time fighting nobodies, maybe you spent a lot of time bent over being jack hammered by someone to get given such a ratioed position but like the others it didn’t matter why as I put you out when we last faced off and to be honest I will do it again. I am not bragging but I am infinitely better than you in every single regard but I do know you are a threat and I will not take it lying down but I will win because that is what I do. I know you always been pushing, always trying to get out of the box your sister put you in. I get it. I have a domineering golden child of a sister who is a real bitch. She thinks she is better than me and tries to pigeonhole me too but hell I am a worldwide superstar, so I think I won that battle. Whereas you are still striving, still so eager to become validated by your sister but that will never happen because you will never be able to do it. You might believe your own delusions but in the end are you at my level, at the level needed to attain top billing, to attain title shots, to be loved so ceremoniously by the locker room and management? You already succumbed to my talents so who is to say you will not again? Maybe this drives you. Maybe I drive you to get revenge for that oh so easy loss? If so you’re most welcome, honeylove. Yet, it will be all in vain as I have your number and I seen how weak your jutting jaw is. One Makihouse kick and you tumble like dominoes. Your sister was right. You really are the runt of the litter but don’t worry love there is always Myra she is more at your debased level. Watch me win and you can even say, ’I lost to the eventual winners’ maybe that gives you some essence of prestige even though you are just a glorified jobber. When you look at the lights, after you have been knocked out again, you see my face peering down at you just remember one fact – you were born to be in the shadows and I was made to be the light that casts it.

She shut the laptop as suddenly every lightbulb in the housebroke simultaneously. Bloody Daniela is costing me a fortune, she thought. She shook her head and headed to the weights room. 

You do not know what you come up against at any given moment in this industry.
One week you could face a highflyer and the next it is a submissions expert or a power house.
Sometimes it’s a sneaky bitch like Alicia or Evie. Sometimes you have to face someone insane like Andrea or even someone ditzy like Candy.

Then someone like Sierra who knocks you so hard you cannot even remember the finish of your match and you’re just glad you came through it somewhat unscathed.

This is what we sign for after all. We want to test ourselves against the best as Sierra did and in most vocations, you sit, and you wonder if your life needed variety.
None of this happens in the professional wrestling industry.
 
We have variety and at any given moment we can lose. The last time Melissa had fought she remembered the hard hitting and punishing impact of the match.
She could remember most of it but the end just drifted away like a smoke ring in a frat party. She could not remember if she had lost or not, but she had this feeling she had won.
If this had been the case, then she had banished those defeats and that heinous loss that shocked all of Sin City and now that damned Salco was a champion again.

Her mood was not excellent as it was, due to the lacerations taking their damn time to heal, losing Daniela and the slight concussion she was given by Sierra.
 
Sierra had proved herself and she had been right. Maki had needed to prove herself too. She had been signed to a contract based on her storied career, but the past is the past.
She was no longer the woman that instilled fear, that made her competitors worried about a loss on their record and now they saw her as beatable and she hated it.

Reputation takes you so far and then you need to grind out results when you are not performing at your best. People get title shots because they are earned, and Maki had done nothing to earn it but here she was with some still toy plastic championship because we needed to keep everyone happy.
 
Yet, after all the ups and downs, breaking her ankle, getting covid before anyone else, leaving multiple companies because she felt she didn’t quite fit in to her win/loss record being less than stellar, yet the big bosses keep giving her opportunities,
 
Each match that was worth anything she had lost. She lost to Amber, to Seleana and then that shocking defeat to Jessie Salco. Yet, the fans were still on her side from their living rooms, the management backed her to succeed and gave her so many chances. By and large she knew she had more win than losses and we all understand that we could lose at any time but now was the time to defeat that pathetic river of piss Myra and finally bring some glamour that internet title.
 
Televisual Personality – A Flashback
 
In the locker room of the independent wrestling federation she had joined since leaving the British scene, Melissa Aki was loving life.  On a personal level she had a nice apartment in Boston, she had a girlfriend and a boyfriend. It was far too confusing to get into more detail. In her professional life things had gone great and she had found her rhythm.
 
She had gone four months undefeated, travelling around America, yes encountering some racists and xenophobes but mainly the crowd had warmed to her. They knew she gave everything she could in that ring plus of course they loved to listen to her talk. The British accent was always a winner with every crowd whether she played the good or the bad guy, they hung onto every word she said. Yes, at times she felt visually violated and she spoke out on it but little by little with every Makihouse Kick she had knocked someone else out and it was here that she developed her love for the Makinoku Driver. She beat heavy ones, flying ones, tall ones, short ones, sexy ones, deviant ones but they all fell on the wayside as she climbed that ladder and slammed her fist against that glass ceiling that today she just cannot reach. It was one hell of a run which she would have similar runs in the future that brought here to her current destination but back at the beginning she was enjoying her run and she knew she had found the right formula of talent, gimmick and confidence.
 
It was at this time she had donned the face paint which was different to what fans around the world know now as Maki and Daniela conjoined within that paint but in this time frame no-one had donned such an image and she took off because of it. This face paint was different in essence but was similar to what is known now except it was more of a traditional Korean warrior war makeup and made her feel like she could take anyone down with it. Her ancestors fed her with power and resilience and her foes knew that they had to face the full might of the Korean warrior clan. She won before she even stepped foot through the curtain. It was an immense feeling.
 
She was sitting in this dingy dressing room applying the face paint, which took hours to do properly, and Max the booker stepped in. He smiled at her and sat on the bench as she was standing in front of the mirror.
 
“What can I do for you, Max?”
 
She straightened out his shorts and looked at her back, that ridiculously long wavy black hair was so magical but he knew what she should do with it and mentioned it many times prior.
 
“Mel, have you thought of putting white streaks in your hair?
 
She stopped with the white paint, gave herself some seconds to sigh loudly and then roll her eyes. “I am not into looking like my mother for crying out loud!”
 
He looked down at the floor, he secretly had a thing for her, which she knew but never played up to as she was engaged in a love triangle as it was and didn’t need more annoyance in her life.
“I have to talk to you about next week. I made a booking decision in regards to your run. It deserves…
 
He trailed off as he looked up at her and she turned to face him. She wondered why he would not just say what he came to say for flub sake!
 
“Spit it out, soldier boy. I gotta get ready for Mayhem tonight, remember?”
 
He stood as she continued to stare, “I am booking you for your first championship match next week for the winner of tonight’s Television championship match.” Before she could say anything he was gone. She looked around and had no sight of him or anyone.
 
So.
 
She screamed.
 
She did a little dance.
 
Television champion. The champion of television was hers for the taking and she would lead all television for the entire county.
 
She did win and won her first championship in America. She went on to win many more but it was in this moment, no matter the killer run she was on, she knew that killer instinct she often wondered about her opponents and if they had it. She did and when gold was on the line Maki was all in!
 
Cry Me A River, Bitch!
 
We opened up as you do in a bar in downtown sin city. A very denimed up Melissa Aki was doing what she does when she is in a bar and that’s causing spontaneous bar fights to happen. She went from one person to another Makihouse Kicking everyone and slamming beer bottles over people’s heads until she broke one, looked at the jagged edge and started to slice it into her left cheek and laughed loudly as the blood started to pour down her face. This act of disgusting masochistic ingenuity halted the bar fight and everyone left.
 
Maki was on her own in her denim jacket and skirt. She tightened her pigtails and screwed her face up which enabled the blood to flow even stronger. “Like these morons who scatter as soon as they see who I am you will too Myra. Everyone is all scared of the big, bad demon. Well, guess what, you utter imbeciles, Daniela fled. I am empty of the demonic presence so come here honeylove. Come to mama. I won’t bite...actually that’s a lie. I will bite you and enjoy tasting your skin break. Oh it’s so heavenly. Why not try it, Myra love? It will change your life. The salty skin as it breaks and the iron taste of that red flowing river of beautification Yum Yum for my Tum Tum. Ha!”
 
Her face changed from the maniacal laughing masochist to one who had laser focus as she smeared her hand over the cut in her face and across the rest of her face so she almost resembled a clown.
 
“How do you feel Myra? How does it feel to face up to the failure that you truly are. I mean sure I lost to Jessie and cannot even remember the finish to my match with Sierra, I am still partially injured and yet I feel your self-doubt. It shines off you like the light shines off your hideous skin. Do you have scars and deep regret? Oh how delicious. I know the likes of you, Myra and you flatter to deceive. You fool all these idiots into believing you are a great champion but anyone worth their salt would do their research and nine times out of ten you find this way to win despite being outclassed but now you have one of the best in the world in your line of sight. On my day I can beat anyone and you are not even worth a god damn broken fingernail. Let me ask you a question I always asked as a champion: Have you made that title relevant and mean something? I doubt you have to be honest. You’re a gatekeeper and it’s time to let the real relevant champion walk through and take what is obviously mine even though I didn’t even know I wanted it.”
 
She leaned against the bar, took a beer and downed it and then burped loudly. Her mate Brett should be here, she thought. Why was it that everyone she came into contact with ended up ridiculing and hating on her? She shrugged. Just the life of someone at the top of her profession she guessed.
 
“I will not lose this match. Myra, you can claim that you’re the champion of the bombshell internet, you can claim to be this experienced championship hoarder but don’t dress it up. You’re a has been whose day in the sun has turned her into a raisin. You are also something I hate. You’re a do-gooder but worse than that you’re a contradiction of what you claim to be. You can call me a bitch, call me a motherjammer or to flub off I do not care. Cry me a river, bitch. You say you want wrestling to be held up to its highest morals and that you fight for the love of this industry so what you’re truly telling everyone who busts their arses off every god damn night is that they don’t do this for the love of the business or for glory or for the morals of our industry but only you can truly be held to the highest virtue of the land. YOU MAKE ME SICK! Then let’s look at the other side of the coin. This virtuous woman, who is champion of this web browser called bombshells, who truly loves the business, does not strut around with her arse sticking out and her tits falling all over the place? You contradict yourself you selfish god damn whore. If anyone does this for the love of the business is me.
 
Can you find a picture of me playing up to a camera, sticking my arse out for all those pervs or throwing my boobs out so all of those little sick puppies can pull one off on them? No I fight and I fight until there is nothing left of my energy. Look, Myra, you’re a little pathetic and very boring but you are a good fighter. I know you are more than capable of beating me. You’re the champ, I am the challenger. There is an obvious discord between us but Seleana is not in your future she is in mine! No matter what you think will happen will probably not happen the way you expect because someone like you would never ever imagine any other scenarios and I am a hundred moves ahead of you Myra. I want you to take stock of what you have achieved, sleep with my title, enjoy your limited time together. For Sunday I am the NEW CHAMPION OF THE BOMBSHELLS INTERNET! This has been my destiny since day one and sorry pet but failure is your only option!”
 
A guy walks out of the toilet and slowly walks behind Melissa, who grabs another beer, starts to drink, Makihouse Kicks the guy and then finishes the beer off with an almighty belch worthy of any soon to be internet champion.
 

The Marlowe The Merrier

The mystery of Samantha Marlowe was still ringing around the head of Melissa Aki as she sat as always looking out at the valley from the edge of her swimming pool. A drop of blood from the top right corner of her scalp fell into the pool and she saw it turn into some weird dark red and brown colour as it splayed out on the surface of the water. She watched it as her thoughts turned to Jessie Salco.

This wanton little hussie didn’t even admit she had pulled her down at summer XXXtreme. She could have forgiven her for trying to hold onto her chance of winning the roulette bombshell’s championship. She could have forgiven Jessie just eliminating her but to lose your footing and bring someone down was too much to bear. She knew why she had done it now. She is a nobody, hopping around the bombshell division hoping to find someone with actual relevance to climb on and ride to some kind of infamy.

There is always some in every single person’s life that you do not understand how they have had so much success, she mused, you’re suffering from ignomynity. It breeds this little tinge of jealousy that builds up into resentment and then into a war where you will need to do all it takes to take that person down so you hatch this plan, where this person who stands in your way of getting everything you want will fall and you will take their place and have the life you always dreamed of.

Usually, you need to hatch a plan, someone so exalted would see through any old ruse so you must act as if it was nothing to do with you or wasn’t intentional on your part. You grabbed a leg not knowing who it was you will say. They will be mad as hell but you will say your piece about how they shouldn’t blame you for their failures. It’s a perfect strategy and you will usurp them as they fade into obscurity with the weight on their back from carrying you to any sort of echelon on the Sin City ladder.

A steady stream of blood started to drip into the pool, as she had mindlessly begun clawing at her stitches. She immediately stopped and thought she had to control those emotions. She drifted back to her thoughts as she toe’d the blood on the surface.

The thing with revenge plans that had no basis in real life was hard to accurately predict. How could you predict if they would fail or not? Nothing is guaranteed. Not even wins in the ring.
What was the best way to get someone’s attention? What was the best way to show that parasite that you would do everything to eviscerate it from existence for piggybacking on your reputation? The art of war states that little inconveniences lead to bigger defeats so make her lose to someone who is even more moronic than her. Costing Salco the match was just the start of her plans and she knew it would stir that vacuous bitch to come back at her at least ten fold.

Oh she did and then some but what Salco had not realised was that when she was in mortal danger and don’t get it twisted, Jessica Salco had tried to kill her, the demoness would come out and she did. She loved the blood and violence, the pain of her vessel drove her on but what has been lost in all of this was the very beloved, legendary bombshell, Samantha Marlowe was just another on a list of victims. What galled her was that people and by that she meant these idiotic reporters calling it a lucky victory. She had dominated from bell to bell and used a legitimate wrestling move to win. When was a roll up victory, lucky? She had vanquished another in the bombshell division as she pushed towards her goal of bombshell gold. She obviously was happy to have a chance at Evie and her title but the most inane decision to make it a battle royale. There were so many better choices like a gauntlet or beat the clock but she would take this match, win and kick Salco out of the match. She had never won a battle royale in her career but there’s a first time for everything!

The First Time - A Flashback

In a time when following her dream to the United States to create a career in pro-wrestling had not even entered her subconscious and she didn’t even realise it was a dream of hers. She had wanted to make her daddy proud. She was good at fighting in her neighbourhood, she had become a natural striker while working in her spare time for her Dad’s promotion called the British Championship Wrestling Federation. She had been able to spend more time with him than her bitchy and bratty little sister who quite obviously deserved to die.

Since she had debuted in front of fifty paying guests, she had got quite a following and they called themselves the Melissa Marks. Everytime she came out they would holla and scream for her which was quite unfortunate as she was just seventeen and more akin to a stick insect than a wrestler but she was tall and these fans were mainly middle aged men who wanted to imagine themselves bending her over a table and having their wicked way with her and she would pant for more, which of course would never happen in their lifetimes but it was a following and the attention hit something in her. To be adored, wanted, sexualised and her narcissism came out in her but was it not the way for all wrestlers? You wrestle because you live for the adulation that you do not get in ordinary life. That is why no one ever retires and literally every single wrestler suffers from depression because they need to get that next fix of attention. That is why they do these daredevil moves and she herself lived for deathmatches for that buzz it gave her but to let the feeling of abusing someone, to get that feeling of everyone’s eyes on her.

Her father, Michael, was sitting in a very small office, behind a little desk. He had photo frames of Melissa, her sister Hannah and her little brother Sebastian. On his desk were many different faces as he studied them; she walked in without knocking.

”Hey Daddy!”

He nodded and pointed to the chair in front of his desk, not taking his eyes off the photos he was arranging in front of him. ”Shut the door first, muffin.”

She had just sat down and in her teenage way she got up and sighed loudly, closed the door and then sat back down again. ”Are you even going to acknowledge the presence of your first born?”

He looked up at her for the first time and frowned.

”What happened to your face, kiddo?

”Bitches be trippin’. It says it on my cap.That’s all Dad.”

”You being bullied again, Melly? Did I not tell you to use the wrestling moves we have been training you, for times like this when in self defence?”

She shrugged. ”Maybe I did and maybe I won the fight. It doesn’t matter. What are you up to with those photos?”

He was still arranging the photos as best he could into an order that agreed with his design he had in his brain. Maki just could not get her head around what he was doing. Why was he moving wrestlers faces around an oak desk? She peered over and could not see her own photo on the desk which perplexed her.

”Sorry muffin, this is very difficult to work out. I don’t mean to ignore you. Sometimes, you need to find a way to maximise the output without thinking overly about it.”

She was even more confused now. What the hell was her father on about? Where was her picture? Why was he ignoring her question and what was with all the cloak and dagger games?

”You going to answer me or what, Dad?”

”Yes. Yes of course.Sorry pumpkin. I am working out the Rumble match.It is not as easy as it seems. I need specific people in at a certain time to maximise crowd reaction. Like, I cannot have three heels in at one time unless I go for a babyface to get beaten on. I cannot control who will get thrown out but I need to control when to have tweeners, when to have heels and babyfaces in the ring. No one will buy it if we have all heels and all faces. It’s tough to work out.

She pondered his words and then thought to herself, ‘am I a babyface?’ She got good reactions from the perverted crowd but then she had heard some jeers lately from a few of the female section and she perversely enjoyed them being bitchy at her because they were jealous. So did that make her a heel? As she mused this she came to the conclusion that she was a tweener. She wasn’t good or bad. She just beat people up for fun or who got in her way. She would be the good girl against the baddie and the baddie against the goodie. She enjoyed that chameleon existence in wrestling. She wasn’t straddled with one or the other but she could embrace both at the same time. Nine years later she would think about this conversation, her thoughts on it, realising she had been a tweener from this moment on.

She snapped out of her reverie when a deep seated pain in the pit of her stomach started to grow, she could feel the heat inside her, she enjoyed the sensation of her own pain as it transformed her face into a reddish tone, she felt her sweat glands opening up as her body tried to cool itself down. Why was she not included? That now infamous Maki temper was boiling just under the surface but she didn’t want to show her Dad and head booker of BCWF that side of her again. He had seen it so many times and only recently had he seemed to be pleased that she was a lot calmer now she was fighting people for money on a weekly basis. She was about to speak again but then the heat was firing out of her pores.

”WHY IN HELL IS MY PHOTO NOT ON YOUR DESK WITH THE REST OF THOSE MORONS? YOUR LITTLE GIRL NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN A BATTLE ROYAL WITH THOSE IDIOTS?

He stopped placing the photos in the order he had suddenly desired, looked up at his daughter, who had kicked out the chair from under her and was seething with anger as she slammed her fist on the table. Melissa and her temper tantrums, he thought. That girl needs to stop living on her emotions. He placed his hands in the air in a gesture to placate her.

”Melly, you need to control yourself. Remember mindfulness, Yoga and meditation? Your mother will meditate with you after I call her…

He went to grab his flip phone but Melissa was faster and grabbed it out of his reach. He shook his head in sad resignation.

”Always has to be this way, doesn’t it? Give me my damn phone or get out. I am the parent and you’re almost an adult. It is high time you started behaving like one, you selfish brat! Thank you. Now you’re mad I take it because I have not included you in the rumble?

She nodded her head as her fury was still in charge of her motor functions.

”Good. If you want to make this into a career you should be mad about certain things but remember it is not a good idea to freak out on the head booker, the one person who will go and kick arse for you. Second, do not freak out on your dad. It will never end well for you. So, grab the chair, sit down and listen to your dad!

She sullenly picked the chair up off the floor, sat down and pretended to be fine, tightening her ponytail and placing a cap on her head. She smiled at her Dad who eyed her suspiciously.

”Melly, you have done so well here and I made it hard for you because I did not want you to be tarnished with the nepotism brush. You have done it under your own steam without my help at all. Winning this rumble means the winner gets a shot at Mad Matt and his title. It is not that I think you’re not worthy of a title shot but it is that you have never been in one before and what if you get thrown out and land badly. You could have your career ruined or even your life and all because you were not ready and I allowed the business to come before family. I cannot and will not ever let anything come before the safety of my baby girl. You’re not ready yet. End of discussion.”

Her eyes narrowed but she knew that with her father usually when he said that you had no comeback but to let the discussion end. Yet, she knew how to get around him.

“Look Daddy dearest. I love you. You’re my rock. I look up to you in every way. You are the best man in the world and I will never ever know anyone as special as you but I am not a child anymore. I am forging my own path and on the whole you have always supported my dreams. Do you want to be the one who denied me a shot at my dream? Put me in it and see how I do. Make it protective around the ring so we don’t get hurt. I like pain, Dad. I enjoy it and I enjoy inflicting it on others. You know that. Just let me go out and be me. If I fail then I fail and I will learn from it and improve and if I win then you get to see me ascending the echelons of this place and you can be proud either way. Put me in it, Dad, you won’t regret it.

He leaned back and digested her words. Of course he knew she was playing him but also knew she meant the words from her heart. As he looked at his little girl that he held in his arms all those years ago grow up and want to follow in his footsteps he realised he couldn’t trample on her dream,

”Fine! Melly, you get a shot. I will place you somewhere in the middle. You will need to train non stop. You have ten days to prepare. I want to see you jumping on mats, being thrown out by the coaches and I want to see how you land. This is your first time and you will be part of thirty people involved so take any number you’re given and if you outlast just one person that’s a win. This is not an easy match to be in, so not only training, I want you to do your homework on how it works. I will be testing you every night on the rules and what could go wrong for you. Don’t make me regret this. It’s almost six. Get your shit together your mother is expecting us.

 She left the office and grabbed her gym bag, smiling to herself. She would finally be in a battle royale. She had always loved watching the rumble and was always her favourite match to watch. The drama of it all was pure adrenaline to her. She would win this and prove why she is going to be the face of BCWF and defeat Mad Matt as well. She was going to prove why she was the next greatest british female wrestler.

What she didn’t know at this time was that she would last eight minutes and get dragged over the top by her nemesis, Little Vixen, illegally but she had outlasted four other competitors. It would lead to an unenviable record. In her odyssey around the world and mainly in the states, she had only once been in the final two and had never won a battle royale. At climax control she had to make sure this changed. She had to face Evie. She had to decimate the moronic Jessie and take out her frenemy Alicia. She had to win!

The Hateful Eight (Sorry Quentin.)

Not all things come to pass no matter how much you want them to happen. Maki knew this. She had wanted to have a few days in Vegas to train but all the hotels were full or shut. She would have to train at home in her own gymnasium. In the Santa Barbara area her gyms were well known with billboards everywhere advertising the Next Gen Gym. She would need to work out here. She spent all night hitting the weights and cardio machines. She felt ready in herself but with her track record of Battle Royales she needed to prepare so she hastily headed to the gym where they had cleared out all of the machines and erected a ring, with double matting on the outside.

In her wisdom she had decided to record it for her latest DVD for her merch stand in Vegas on the weekend. She was going to call it “The Ropes are monsters” but even that sounded stupid to her but ho hum she will work on that after the weekend’s activities. She had trained with her sparring partner, Izzy Ramirez as well as her wife and everytime she tried to hold on to the ropes she would fail to grasp them properly and fall to the outside. This was not going well.

She had an idea. She called a friend of hers who made mannequins come to life, a bit like Mercedes Vargas. She sat on the top turnbuckle as the mannequins arrived and looked very much like her opponents on Sunday. They were put in different positions in the ring. She started to strike them with her educated feet and they went tumbling. She was unsure if this was even realistic but forged ahead and then covered in sweat, her purple yoga pants had gotten very dark indeed and she felt her workout top and found her chest covered in beads of sweat. She inhaled deeply as she hated to sweat and abhorred it but boy did she love to bleed. She was certain there would be blood at the end of this.

She saw their faces, these damn mannequins, and it really riled her up. The hateful eight she had coined them all but in reality she stole that from the movie but still it worked for her. Apart from Alicia who she liked in her personal life just not professionally as she was so damn good. As she sat from upon high on the turnbuckle, her legs wrapped around it as she hated to be so high up, she looked at them all and clicked her fingers to the camera man to point that massive object her way.

”Evie. Look at us all posturing and clamouring for your attention. You gave me some on twitter and I like the way you interact. We all know how tough you are. Hell, if you can beat Alicia Lukas twice then you are one of the toughest bitches on the planet. The interesting thing is that you play off like you want to be adored and loved and then use sarcasm to cover what we all know is your blatant insecurity but why? You’re the god damned champion and have proven yourself as the one to beat so why need to deflect? Maybe you’re scared of what I can do or if Daniela comes out to the fore. Who knows but I like the cut of your jib. You are at the top of the mountain and we are all crazily trying to reach you. You can defeat that waste of oxygen on the same night as you see all your competitive future opponents beat the living shit out of each other. Big win for you, honeylove. I will not guarantee I will win as hell it’s well documented that I suck in these matches. I prefer one on one and to be up close and personal but boy I so want to face you. I want to see for myself if you’re as good as you say and the locker room spouts or if it’s purely psychological. If I don’t win you and me will happen sooner or later. That is a guarantee I definitely can make!”

She sat back on the turnbuckle, almost toppling off it but steadied herself just in time. She stared at each mannequin in front of her. Almost each one had the desired effect of pissing her off and standing in the way of a bombshell title shot.

”I find it almost laughable that these opponents, these competitors, even have an ounce of intellect. I have seen the many reports, the comments about how each one will win and face Evie. They do not for one second seem to appreciate how hard it is to circumvent everyone in the ring at the same time. Multiple people can throw you out or you could get in the way of Alicia Lukas or Kate Steele arse kicking and accidentally fall to the outside. Yet, here they come boasting about how they will easily win and everyone else will lose. Do you not even comprehend the variables in a match like this? It is exactly why I am intellectually and psychologically superior to you all. Does that mean I will win? No. It just means I will be able to navigate the minefield far better than the rest of you because I know the pitfalls involved and I know each of the opponents and what they can and will do but I am no mystic. I cannot guarantee each person’s antics from one minute to the next. All I can do is use my cunning, my will to win at all costs and the homework I have done on them all to try to gauge what they might do but humans rarely stay on one path and quite often veer from it. If you add the emotional element to it there is no way you can possibly state with any ounce of accuracy what will happen and the fact these ingrates all believe they will win is pathetic and shows how deluded they have been and how egotistical they are. This is the worst kind of match to be in and such lazy booking but as they state we are all contenders which I highly doubt. As if Vargas or Salco even deserve to be in this company of strangers but whatever. Booking sense doesn’t really matter in wrestling anymore anyway!”

She still never kept her eyes off the mannequin versions of her opponents. That heat was rising but then her eyes grew heavy and she awoke in a bathtub. How had time gone so fast? Why was she not on the turnbuckle? As she wiped her eyes, she looked at her hands and they were covered in blood. She looked down and the water was that dark red colour of blood. What the frick had happened to her?

The blood water was up to her neck but instead of being alarmed by it she smirked and looked up at us through the grainy CCTV. She wondered briefly how unethical it was to have cameras in a bathroom and decided to remind herself to have words with the gym manager and possibly fire him later. As she thought this, the blood water at the end of the bath swooshed towards her and out of it came the vision of herself rising between her feet, she pulled her legs towards her chest as she was watching herself, blood water draining off her, the long black hair covered in blood just sat there and then…

“JESSIE SALCO. WE WANT HER SOUL. WE WANT HER SOUL, VESSEL. WE WANT IT NOW. THE REAPING HAS BEGUN. END THE SALCO. GIVE THE SOUL UNTO US. DANIELA NEEDS TO FEAST. WE NEED TO APPROPRIATE THE END OF HER HUMAN EXISTENCE. GIVE THE SOUL TO US, VESSEL.”

A white flash appeared before her eyes and she was back on the turnbuckle on the ring in her gym. She had always been in the moment with Daniela but she had never just been taken like that into a dream like state. This was new for the demoness that dwelled inside her. She had to focus again on the match at hand and not on the nonsensical whitterings of the stupid demon.

”Look, those dim witted ignorant fools down there in that ring have to take me out and it won’t be as easy as some of you think. I know what you will do and say before I even have to think about it. You will beat everyone but first you will have to lay out how you will take apart and defeat every single opponent. Why do you feel the need to list every single person’s flaws and strengths and outline how you will win over them? It is passe and just plain ignorant. Literally the main ones in the hateful eight will probably be there at the end. The ones proving themselves every damn week. So I will not be talking about each individual as that’s pathetic as I stated. Candy and Bea Banhart I already beaten and proven I can beat them whenever I feel like it. They won't last until the end. Pointless even mentioning them. I do, however, have words for certain participants.

Let’s start with my favourite delusional moron - Jessie Salco. Oh Jessie, I am so glad my little stunt got your attention. I have heard your words and seen your actions. You want to play with the big girls then you need to deal with the consequences. Do you think busting me open would really give you the desired effect or maybe retribution? You see both sides have an equal and opposite reaction. When I caused you to lose that wanton tramp, Holt that was what made us even. I was willing to leave it there and move on from someone as debased and insignificant as you as I have higher priorities but oh no you decided to then destroy me for daring to even up the ying with the yang. What you didn’t countenance and what no one does is that I enjoy it. I enjoy my own pain and suffering. It is like a hit of meth for people like you, it gives me sensations like you wouldn’t believe and focuses my mind on what I need to do. Though, I do know you will come at me in this match and try to eliminate me and I welcome it. You may even once again get thrown over and pull me outside with you. I wouldn’t be surprised. Yet, there cannot be three actions for one action in retaliation. So, while you are trying to battle your nightmares, trying to take out that fear on me, be careful of what the reaction brings.”

She wrinkled her nose as she leaped down and Makihouse kicked Bea Banhart, Candy and Jessie Salco mannequins and they exploded in a plume of white ash as she navigated around the others to the other turnbuckle and sat on top of it unsteadily again.

”I am not even going to bother mentioning Kiera. She didn’t get payback for the clothesline she gave me which is fine and dandy. I expect everything and anything. She will get herself eliminated by her pure conceit and I hope someone busts that botox in her face as she goes flying out. Would be fun if it was me but hey you cannot guarantee it. Andrea Hernandez is a tough fighter and she will be hard to get rid of by everyone and one hell of an athlete but in the end I know exactly why she will fail. You can be as tough as they come and have prowess and talent coming out of your nostrils but when you lack anything inside your cranium you’re bound to lose.

Mercedes Vargas. Oh the simpleton of  Sin City. We have locked up a few times and I mistakenly said you had not beaten me but back in the day when I was developing does not count. The past is the past and I live in the present. When I was at my lowest ebb, dealing with ankle injuries the last time we faced the best you could do was a countout. Look, you even sucked against the biggest suck job here in Crystal, so how do you fathom you’re at my, Alicia or even Kate’s level? Hell, though, maybe you get lucky as the main women fight each other. You could just saddle up and bang you’re in the final two or three. Crazy I know but you’re the luckiest son of a bastard I ever seen. This kind of match is perfect for you. I mean, you can suck all night long but everyone else could eliminate each other and you get a chance to be annihilated by Evie. Stranger things have happened. You come near me though and I am knocking you out before you even touch the outside. That is one thing I can guarantee!

She climbed down and as before she Makihouse kicked the Vargas, Kiera and Hernandez mannequins and then made her way to the third turnbuckle.

” Kate Steele. You know when my agent asked me about Sin City I wasn’t sure. I had turned down various offers from different federations. Griffin spoke to me about signing, he spoke to me about how tough it was here, mentioned Evie. All of it looked good to me but then I was informed that you and Alicia were here. I can go anywhere and win a title, I can kick arse all over the world but I wanted a place where I was pushed to my limits. As soon as I had that match with Amber I knew but hey one person doesn’t make a roster. The overall feeling was that I had always wanted to cross paths with you but never had and this was my chance. Unfortunately, so far we hadn’t had a chance to fight and when this ridiculous match was announced one name flashed from it and that was yours. Kate, you’re one of the best and I know in a one on one match you and I would have a merry dance and who knows who would win but in this match anything can happen. I just hope we get some time beating the living crap out of each other. I respect you and I know when it is down to it that we will be in the last three in this match but do not take my respect and my graciousness at your talents as weakness because they aren’t and I will do whatever it takes to get you out of the way as soon as possible. After I knock you out I will give you some super strength tylenol as a gift of appreciation.”

She leaned to the side for no perceptible reason and almost fell off but steadied herself with the ropes again. She really wasn’t one for heights or balance.

”Now it brings me to my frenemy Alicia Lukas. The clear favourite here. Why is she the favourite? I have fought her many times and I have won a couple and so has she but she is in the top three toughest women I know and have faced and for that she has to be a favourite if I am excluded. I mean, Alicia, we all know you and how hard you hit and your relentless spirit. Your never say die attitude is one that is on a par with no one else. I know you must be hurting about Evie having your number and sadly that day happens to us all. You walk out at every match and just be reputation and your history. You have the match sixty percent won. When your opponents see you they already think it's an uphill battle much like Evie. I don’t agree with that estimation when it comes to myself. Yet, there you are. Now you have been very vocal about proving yourself and fighting back up to a place where you can defeat Evie and some morons said you’re given this chance but Vargas is so dense so forget about it. This is not an easy match to win but I know it will be down to you Kate and me at the end. After the match we will hug and talk about everything that happened but I know you and you know me and we will fight to the end. We will break each other’s faces to win and I would have it no other way. Sooner or later we will meet like Kate up close and personal but for now you are but another mannequin standing in my way and you must be eradicated.”

She jumped down and Makihouse kicked Alicia and Kate mannequins and she was alone with her thoughts. She suddenly realised she had literally spoken a little about every opponent and stamped her foot in frustration.

”Stupidly I went and did what years of wrestling mind control has told me to do and mention every single person against my better judgement so let’s end this with why I think I am going to win, though, obviously it is not cast in stone. No matter how easy or hard my opponents are this is not a typical match and I will still end the night with only one blight on my record which is Amber and we will make sure that is taken care of at a future date but these women they are tough to eliminate in their own ways; some out of stupidity and some out of mental and physical toughness but the one thing people think about me is that I am scary and that I am tough and hard to beat and will scratch and claw in an effort to win at all costs which is true. I have that killer instinct and it's in my genes but that is not why I will win. It is because I am a master at psychological games and I am in the heads of all my competitors and even that is still not enough to win or a big enough reason why I should be seen as the favourite. The reason is that I have a game plan. With my superior intellect I can navigate these murky and choppy waters ahead and come out the other side in the docks and the only survivor because I live on my wits and I know how to win, I also have a demon inside me and I will finally banish the past battle royale defeats and god help Evie when I do. I want that title and I am going to get it!”

She pushed the cameraman away and strode confidently towards the locker room and the shower of the damned.

 Echoes of Life

Life in a way has its own echoes of the universe withheld in it. You are constantly fighting against the grain, always battling to overcome it and then it attacks you, brings you down to earth and you realise you are a miniscule little human, following the same old narrative until you are awoken or woke as the kids say. You believe in this bubble you surrounded yourself in, to protect your ego to quantify your achievements but then you are smacked in the face with the knowledge that you’re not as good as you think you are.

Melissa Aki was musing about life as she lay in a swimming pool, feeling the hot sun burning away the last molecules of the water on her skin.

She had thought she would come into Sin City, blaze a trail, beat all comers on her way to the top, as she had done virtually everywhere, she had been. Defeating the former roulette champion had made her ego expand again. The match with Seleana and Amber had not turned out well at all. She was certain she could beat both of them, but she failed. She abhorred failure in all forms.

It had been nice to talk to Seleana, she thought, to clear the air after the match and she spoke with Amber too and after watching it she could see that Amber had star written all over her. She had been so ego driven that she thought she could turn up and knock out either or both women very easily, but it didn’t work like that. She was overconfident and it showed. Losses in life are about learning. You do not learn with victories; they paper over the cracks and all you do is build yourself up with no solid basis for it. She lived to win and to win titles, but it had seemed so far off that she couldn’t see a title again on the horizon for her but someone in the management circle must have thought highly of her as she has a Roulette championship match at SummerXXXTreme VII. Maybe it was down to her victory over Candy but she couldn’t let that opportunity slip and now she had to face Bea Banhart. She knew she had to take this match and win otherwise it would show she is in a championship match based on reputation rather than being one of the best newcomers they could have wished to sign. Damn that ego getting in the way again.

She may have fallen down from her very own pedestal but this was a time to prove why she was seen as one of the very best in the world and a victory as well as the championship match which she would be helping Seleana, would be her path to redemption. She would show why she has so much inner belief in herself. She would show them why she was signed and why she can and will be the roulette champion. It’s time for Melissa to break free of the shackles the demon Daniela holds her with and time for her to go all out, break some bitches, take some gold and prove that she is what she always said she was – a winner!

Melissa slunk down into the water, her legs resting on the bottom of the pool as she falls into a lotus position as the bubbles float to the surface from her open mouth as she meditates what is next for her life in and out of the squared circle. Then it hit her. Angel was travelling around breaking faces. She would call her sister and they would have the most fun road trip ever.

Sisters Aren’t doing it for themselves.

“Why are we going at the speed of sound?” Her sister Hannah asked.

“It’s the way I drive, honeylove, you should know that!”

They were in her road custom mustang convertible. Their long black hair was whipping their faces as they rocked out to some Shinedown mix from her Spotify. Hannah detested rock music and hung on as Maki zipped around bends, as she looked over at her sister.

“BTS not this load of garbage, Melly. Mind the god damned road, Mel.”

“This is supposed to be a nice trip to bond, Sis. Be nice. Nothing wrong with rocking out, letting the wind flow through your hair, having fun, enjoying being sisters, you know?”

“Do not for one-minute act like we are best mates, Melly. You’re my sister so I am tied to you for the rest of my life. Yes, I would prefer we were close but that will never be the way so stop forcing it. Driving in peace is what I want. Where are we going anyway?”

Maki lifted her aviators and stared at her sister who in turn gave her an admonished look and pointed to the road.

“Vegas, baby! The land of the debauched and the unholy. You ever been?”

“For crying out loud. Vegas? Why would I ever set foot in that cesspit of human dysfunction? I literally cannot believe you’re driving me there. What the hell!”

Maki swerved as there was some roadkill in front of her and as a lover of animals whether alive or dead, she really didn’t want to run over it.

“Sorry, Han. What’s your issue with Vegas? Anyway, I have a match there for my new company from there so thought you would like to see Vegas and watch my match, you know?”

She sighed, “Seriously? Among all the disease infected places you could take me in a global pandemic you want me to go and see you fight half naked sluts in Las Vegas?”

“It’s too late to turn around now. Han, I am sick of your attitude. You either embrace this trip or I make sure you’re the only model travelling by greyhound, okay?”

Her sister Hannah was a catwalk model based in New York City and she had this entitled attitude ever since she was born. It infuriated Maki so much that as kids she tried to drown her sister. Hannah was the golden child as she was an absolutely beautiful girl with serious mental health issues due to her Asperger’s syndrome. Melissa, being a dutiful sister tried to help this as she practiced her Makihouse kick on her at every chance she got. She even asked for a toy vacuum cleaner for Christmas and as soon as she opened it, she slammed it into the head of her little sister. Their relationship was always complicated.

They drove in silence for a while until Hannah decided to break it. “How have you been doing in this Vegas company?”

“Okay I will bite. I won my debut against a former Roulette champion but then I lost last week, and I wasn’t really quite myself for some reason but Amber who beat me is extremely tough though I do want another shot at her. This weekend I am in a match against a tag team specialist named Bea Banhart.”

Hannah digested this. “So, you have a 1:1 record. That isn’t like you. Usually you come in and win match after match and then come unstuck because you are always so arrogant that you will win against anyone. “

“Well, if you want to call me arrogant that’s fine. I am confident in my abilities. It was a triple threat and I do not like being in a match where I do not have complete control.”

“Melly, the control freak. Colour me surprised. Instead of excuses why don’t you see where you fell short? Examine where you went wrong and improve on it? I am not into this naked fighting but seems the most plausible thing to do. Like your football team Spur. You come back better than before.”

“Thanks for the advice. I shall take it on board. We will need to stop for gas soon. Feeling hungry?”

“No. I do not eat. Have you let her come out yet?”

“Daniela? No. She keeps stirring and asking me to let her out, but I do not need some messed up demoness to help me win. Though, it is only a matter of time before she finds a way to come out and I am in the dark void again. “

“Just remember that bitch wants to consume you. Beat that Bea chick and then sort out these issues with Daniela.”

“Okay rest stop ahead. Let’s get gas and a drink. I will beat Bea and when I do, I will prove I am good enough to win the roulette’s championship. Daniela can stay gone as far as I am concerned. If I cannot beat someone without help, then it would mean my time in this industry is done and I am by no means done.”

They reach the stop as Maki pumps gas into the car, she sees Hannah catwalk her way into the restaurant, all hips and little arse. Her eyes turn black and she cackles. She jumps in the car and drives away as the lasting image of Hannah mouthing “What the fuck” as the pump breaks off and gasoline spills everywhere, Maki long gone in the distance as the place erupts into fire.

Little Fires

Meanwhile in hell…

Two huge black masses were opposite each other and slowly morphed into disgusting looking demon entities. The one on the left was holding some sort of board and was significantly taller than the other. The board holding demon was called Persephone and the one on the right was the inhabitant of your girl Maki who named herself Daniela. They did not need to speak as they always communicated via telepathy.

Persephone: You’re slacking, Daniela. How many more chances do I give you? Look at this pie chart.

The piece of paper on Persephone’s board turned into an eight feet tall Pie chat in between the two demons. The key was full of the names under the tutelage of Persephone and their percentages of souls reaped.

Persephone: As you can see our target for this month is three point five million souls reaped or tricked into giving over to us on the date their human bodies expiry date is up. Mammon is at six hundred thousand give or take. Belphegor has over a million souls reaped. He is such a star. Soon he will be vying for my place and then I will have to kill him but for now he is doing great. Leviathan has around eight hundred thousand. Asmodeus our new starter has two hundred thousand which isn’t bad for a newbie.

Daniela: Where am I in this chart? I do not see my name or a fraction of it.

Persephone: YOU’RE NOT ON IT YOU ASSCLOWN! Your percentage is so miniscule it doesn’t appear. Forty thousand. Do you even work anymore? You’re sitting around playing happy clappy lesbians with that vessel of yours and neglecting your job! I am getting pressure from the top to set fire to you and torture you for eternity for such pitiful numbers. What am I to say my boss why my subordinate isn’t pulling her weight, eh?

Daniela: I am on a very important mission for the boss, Persephone. The vessel is a conduit for all the lesser demons to come through. It is vitally important work and that we keep the vessel safe. Did I not get Trump in America elected? Did I not get Johnson in the U.K elected? They have already sold their souls to me which is way more than the rest of the morons in your team. Look, what you fail to realise is I already got the Kardashians and Kanye’s soul. Even Honey Boo Boo I got and those idiotic dance mothers. I give fame to the ingrates of Earth and get their souls. I do not know why you’re harping on at me. Talk to Bez he knows what my mission is.

A massive slap from a massive hand swept Daniela off her feet as she jumped back up and snarled at Persephone who stared intently at her.

Persephone: I am your Satan damned manager! Bez as you call him is my boss and he isn’t happy with your output. You listen to me. It is not just your horns on the extraction table if you fail. I have higher bosses than you would ever know who I must report to. Plus, endless time creating spreadsheets and power point plans. If you’re not careful I will put you in a disciplinary. I have the time as its relative but let me ask about this mission. Are you even helping that vessel you’re in a chemical reaction with?

Daniela: What do you mean? Am I supposed to protect her and reap souls? They are not mutually exclusive!

Persephone: You failed to protect her and failed to gain the souls of that Amber and Seleana humans. This is dereliction of duty. You just crashed an automobile with your vessel in it which could have killed her which would have made her role as a conduit null and void. You let her be beaten without once trying to come out and vanquish them. You promised the soul of a human called Candy, but did you? Your vessel won but I do not see her in my ledger of souls. This all looks bad for you, Daniela. I may have to write you up and talk to my boss about the next course of action. SHUT UP. This is not a discussion.

Suddenly Daniela was hoisted in the air by these one hundred-foot shackles made from the skin of human beings. She struggled against them.

Persephone: As we must follow Demon Resources guidelines, you are suspended, pardon the pun, until a full review will take place upon your failure as a demon. Therefore, your vessel will be inhabited as a conduit and you will not be allowed re-entry into her body. You shall remain shackled until the review is complete. Of course, when that time comes you can have a DR representative with you but for now your suspension has started. Bye Daniela.

With that Persephone was gone. Daniela struggled against the bounds and became curious as to how strong human skin was. She just hoped her vessel would not perish before she had a chance to use that beautiful human body again.

Bea Gone Banhart

Melissa Aki had just finished her workout, striking the kicking back with all her might. She was covered in sweat and her one-piece workout gear was soaking through. She looked at us and then headed to the shower room. She came out looking a million bucks, in denim hot pants and “Maki for Routlette Champion” emblazed loose hanging vest. She had her hair in pig tails and was wearing fluorescent pink eyeliner. She nodded at us as she went to a seat by the water fountain.

“Things didn’t exactly go to plan for me last time out. I know I took it as an easily winnable match. I took Seleana and Amber for granted as the losers of this match and took my eye off the ball but seeing as I am already included in an insane Roulette championship match at Summer XXXtreme I must have done something right. I will not allow such self-destructive behaviour to cloud my judgement again. Sometimes you need a kick in the fanny to wake you up to your own shortcomings.

I know I need momentum coming into the title match against three very talented and hard to beat opponents. Do not think for one minute I treat Bea Banhart as just a warmup match for it because that is so far beyond the truth it might as well be in another galaxy. She is in a very good tag team with her husband after all but Beatrice it isn’t quite the same. You are used to having someone bail you out when you hit that period of the match when your opponent gets some traction and starts getting on top. You will be used to having this moment and then tagging out or a blind tag to give you time to get your wind back and to clear your head. You won’t have this against me. See one word that has been spoken about me throughout my whole career is that I am resilient. Another word used is that I am merciless in that ring and this rings just as true. So, while you’re wondering what to do as you cannot tag, I will be methodically breaking your beautiful face. You will get no respite. I aim to win, and I will win no matter what you come up with. “

A sweet smile spread across her face as she touched down from her cheekbone, to her jawline and then to her neck. It would be such a shame to break such a beautiful face, but she would always do whatever it took to get the victory.

“You may feel that being here longer may give you an edge, knowing what to do in any given circumstance but you have never faced me. I know you will belittle me, say you’re oh so tough and driven and I will be impaled or some such nonsense. I like it when little bitches like you think they can beat me, think they can outsmart me, think they have any chance of getting into my head. See its oh so damned sweet when that Makihouse kick connects with the bridge of your nose, when the crack is heard throughout the arena, when the blood gushes out, a lovely warm trickle and I will enjoy licking that blood from your face after I have pinned you.

Now you probably have done zero research on me, but I have done copious hours on you because unlike some jumped up street urchin made good like you, I like to make sure I am as fully prepared as possible. For someone that claims to be such a proficient technical wrestler you really cannot wrestle for shit, Beatrice. It’s like you watched an old Bret Hart or Ric Flair video and declared yourself a technician. Wanna know what I do in that ring? I WIN! At all costs. I strike and strike and strike some more so your brain is confused whether to fight or run away and then I use my submission skills to weaken your body until you’re ready for the final kick. That is the difference between us. I have a game plan and you just talk shit and bend the rules which to be fair so do I but I combine all of them. I get it you got a shot at the roulette’s championship in February and I get one at Summer XXXTreme. So, this could be a good barometer of my success, but I beat a former champion and I will sacrifice you to the roulette wheel. Do you not see why you’re in this match, sweetheart? You already have a hell of a tag match after this and I move on to bigger names to defeat than yours. You’re not an easy match for me but you’re the one to take out all my angst on after what happened in my last match. I say not easy because obviously I will outwrestle you in every department and I will mess up that surgically improved face but you are sneaky and I will need to be on my guard but please do not take this as me treating you as god damned equal – because you’re nowhere near my level. You are being put on the proverbial pedestal, just by being in a match with me I am enhancing your reputation. So, when all is said and done, and you cannot breathe through your nose you better fucking thank me!”

She had a far away look in her eye, as if she was playing out the scenarios of the match in her mind, every twitch was how she would get out of the certain basic moves of Bea Banhart.

“You have caught me at a bad time for you, Beatrice. Maybe if I had won last week, like I damn well should have, I may have made the erroneous error of complacency creep in. Now you face a determined, no holds barred, complete and utter bitch. I do not want you to see my Korean Warrior make up and think of me as some childish freaking clown that you can beat with your stunning backslides and abdominal stretches. I want you to face your fears, to see what is coming for you and one way or the other I shall be victorious and move on to my quest but if you start acting like a freaking imbecile, showboating about a stupid bulldog move like you’re Greg Valentine or something you will not only be disrespecting me but also yourself and cannot abide that. Let’s see how tough you really are and if that geriatric all codger wants to help, I will knock him out with no hesitation. Much like your grotesque husband. This is not a game and I can break every bone in your body and drag you to hell if I want but you’re not worth it. What I will do is stand the victor and I will not think about your lazy, entitled little ratchet of an arse again!”

She tried to calm herself, but those emotions always got her carried away and often to her detriment. Her mind raced to the match after hers.

“At Summer XXXTreme myself and Seleana, well, we will not be the long-time friends that we are until after it has reached it’s conclusion. This is for another day, but I will be in her corner as she faces this Jessie Salco uptight bitch. I hope she wins, and she deserves to, but my attention will be on you Keira. If you even dare to step foot in that ring, to interfere, to attack Seleana on the outside I will hit you so hard your stupid Botox will spill into your eyeballs! I couldn’t care less if you screw over Jessie. She probably deserves it, but you will not touch a single hair on Seleana’s head. The world of pain you will live in afterwards will not compare. Oh, I do look forward to smashing it up with you, Keira, and Jessie and Seleana but I am going to protect my friend with the best of my abilities. This is just a warning. Do not test my patience. I will destroy your many plastic surgeries soon enough. Just remember one thing: Never Trust Maki!”

She spat the words out venomously and pushed the camera away and we see the shot of her walking away from the floor.  

  Part One: In her head

Date: 06/16/20
Time: 2.24 P.M
Location: Santa Barbara, California

Maki was lounging by the heart shaped pool, with her feet splashing in the water of the house she shared with her wife. She was wearing a split pink bikini, her hair tied back into a tight ponytail. She sipped coffee and looked out to the ripples of the water as she splashed and watched the ripples. She did this when she had thoughts on her mind and needed seclusion.

Life was strange, well it obviously was for everyone right now. Lockdowns.Riots. For Melissa Aki it was even worse. She had seen so many erroneous things in her life but she had escaped them all or had she? Countless times she had been abused by an ex-partner, she had her sister who was a model and complete bitch. She had the whole world against her all the  time and yet she was always smiling, always happy until the moment that feeling rose in her. That feeling of dread.

You know that feeling when something feels off, there is something not quite right within yourself and the world seems so distant. You feel like lightning might strike or a tornado might crop up out of nowhere . No that wasn’t it. The feeling was like a sense of foreboding. It was like when your stomach starts to rumble but on a completely different frequency. This was the feeling she got whenever the demoness Daniela was striving to come out but she couldn’t let it. She had some big matches in the week ahead she needed to prepare for.

Debuts, she mused in her head, were rarely often victories. In fact, just recently, somewhere else, she had defeated that ignominy of first time failures and she always cut a swathe through the competition after. She had to face someone called Candy, who seemed very tough indeed but that is why she signed on with Sin City Wrestling. Not for the money or the glamour of Vegas but to test herself against the very best and this Candy would be hard to dislodge but she had to prove to everyone in that locker room that she was going to be a force to reckon with, Reputation and past glories, she ruminated, are nothing unless you back
them up with results.

She felt the water around her feet and the sun on her face as thoughts of hitting the gym and leaving for Vegas via Chicago entered her mind. It was serene here but she had a match to win and she had to prove herself all over again,

Part Two: The LIfe of A Sinner[B/]

Date: No Date exists in hell
Time: Time is a human construct
Location: Hell, the underworld

The sky was a hue red, unlike anything seen on earth. The valleys were endless , filled with smoke and fire. The screams were heard as a backdrop to this awful image of cunning and torturous assignation. Weird creatures, massive in stature ran left and right on all fours screaming and wailing as two shadows formed into two different spectacles of black mass. Telepathically they spoke to each other in some strange, alien language, that was wonderfully interpreted by yours truly until they stopped and formed humanesque oblique faces of two women.

“Persephone, why did you drag me here? I had much work to do on Earth with the vessel and with the souls of the damned!”

“Daniela. Shush. You’re always rabbiting on about that vessel of yours. I find it a tad boring to be honest,  Melissa Aki this and Maki that and vessel there. Your numbers, Daniela are shocking. Look at this pie chart I just magically introduced from my backside. You’re down at least five thousand souls this quarter!”

The being known as the demoness Daniela was now in the form of her vessel, Maki. Both demons sneered at each other as Persephone sat on the broken back of a damned soul.

“I have the vessel, we are free to use her to attract souls. I can travel inside her and then take over when I want. I sowed the seeds for her to think she wanted to go to more places to do her form of combat and each time she fights we have another soul ready for harvesting. She has even joined a fighting place called Sin City Wrestling. It's too perfect to reap souls there and that disease ridden city of disgusting human carcasses!”

Persephone, the dark overlord of the lost souls radiated calmness but the lure of Las Vegas wasn’t lost on this demented being.

“We have minions, like yourself, all over that city. Souls are being harvested as we sit on these things. We have creatures in every gambling hall, every strip club, every peep show, every hotel, even in their corrupt police force. We even have judges ruling so they can sell their souls for the want of a better life. You’re telling me nothing new here, Daniela. This pie chart does not lie. If you do not bring me a thousand souls in the next four weeks it will be you who is banished here for eternity, having your soul ripped apart over and over again. You understand? “

Daniela roared and seemed ready for a demon fight but she backed away knowing this would not end well for her.

“I have a soul lined up, I promise. I know my word means shit to you, after all I am a demon too, I know I need more and I will get more. I have a few people I am possessing besides the vessel but this one...oh she is precious. She is even called Candy!”

“She is a stripper? I mean we have loads of them but it would boost our quota so upper management don’t roast both of us for their lunch. One isn’t good enough but its a win at least.”

“Well she hasn’t sold her soul just yet and she is not a stripper. She is facing the vessel in one of their weird fighting lesbian things like Dave from accounts showed us. That weird you porn or something? Except no I am not sure it is like that. Anyway, from what I have seen she was in an inferno match and is as stupid and naive as they come! Easy prey, my lord.”

“We damn it all to heaven! Inferno means she is already here. I TOLD YOU I WANTED NEW SOULS! Beelzebub will not be happy you miserable moron!”

“No. No. No. It is one of those lesbian you porn or not matches they have up on earth. She is ready for the taking. I will offer her the world and her wildest dreams and she will sell her soul or I will rip it from her gross human body.”

Daniela stopped still and started to sniff the air as she felt a rumble below her feet. Something was amiss here, it was...Maki was meditating and Daniela knew that was the best time to get back inside the vessel and take charge. Then it formed a devilish thought.

“I will have her soul but I must be off. I need to get back into the vessel to harvest that Candy soul. Melissa is ready to be taken over again!”

Daniela vanished and left Persephone alone. She changed shape again and is at least twenty foot tall now. You can’t get the staff these days, she thought as she headed back to the burning canyons.  


Part Three: Candy Shop

Date: 06/17/20
Time: 7:12 P.M
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada.

Melissa Aki was not on the Vegas strip nor was she in a strip bar or any type of sexual exploitation premises. She was in the city limits enjoying a walk in the sunshine. Her denim mid thigh skirt was flapping in the slight breeze. Embarrassingly the humidity had made her long black hair  unmanageable so she hid it under a COYS baseball cap. Her golden heart earrings gleamed in the sun as did her "United States of Maki" yellow tee shirt. She was wandering around as people stared but they always did. She got used to it. She never questioned why because people are morons and stare at the unfamiliar or stare because they want to get in her knickers.

She found a little corner shop. It looked like some kind of old school barber shop but the name on the door intrigued her to the depths of her being. A rumble of excitement overcame her when she saw the name.

BUNGLE'S CANDY AND CONFECTIONERY STORE.

Bungle. Like that show they repeated back home called Rainbow which was originally in the 80's, so way before her time but she found it a humorous aside.

The light was on inside at early evening which was strange and inviting. Now in her youth she had loved sweets, or candy as the bleeding Americans call it, yet since she had retrained herself not to like them obviously because of her veganism but also because they were not good for you and to be a champion you had to treat your body like a perfectly run mustang or dodge charger.

At the thought of candy her body rumbled loudly, she had eaten four hours ago but still she felt something more than that. Something like Daniela coming to the surface but she was on a hunt for Candy and this seemed the obvious port of call for her. She needed to know what made Candy tick for over half her battles were won by psychology and she knew she could get inside this ditzy blonde's mind and wreak havoc, so she shrugged at no one in particular  and opened the door.

She closed the door behind her as a bell rang. The first thing she had noticed was the cavalcade of assorted sweets. Then the strange older aged man who was bald with glasses and quite rotund in a tweed jacket who smiled at her like a predator. Then her eardrums were assaulted by this hideous song.

'I'll take you to the candy shop (yeah)
Boy, one taste of what I got (uh-huh)
I'll have you spending all you got (come on)
Keep going 'til you hit the spot, whoa'

She felt that thing inside her stir a warning and that same feeling crept up inside her organs as they were brushed aside as she made her way to Melissa's mind.

"How can I help you, miss?" the old man asked.

"Nothing really. I was looking for Candy!"

"Well you came to the right place." He guffawed as Maki looked concerned. "Have a look around."

"CANDY!" It gurgled up out of her throat. She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. Not for the pervy old man but Daniela was snaking her way into her motor functions now. She had never been in possession of her body when Daniela spoke out loud.

The man almost slid across the floor towards her. She snapped her head back around to him and swatted him away like an annoying insect on a hot summer’s day.

“We want Candy!”

“We have every kind of Candy you can imagine. I like to call this a Candy Emporium.”

“CANDY!”

She ripped open one of the plastic pick and mix crates and slammed it on the floor, it bounced back up and she caught it, ripping open the top of the crate and found herself twiddling lots of different candy animals.

“This Candy? This does not feel like a human to possess. What is this?”

He sighed, “Young lady you will pay for that you know?”

“This feels squishy. I do not like this. This is not Candy! You lied. I will be seeing you down under soon enough, sinner! Is it made of Gelatine? Yes, is Candy a cow?”

“Are you vegetarian or Vegan? Then yes a cow or a pig bones in the gelatine. I am sorry.”

“THIS IS NOT CANDY’S SOUL!”

She spun around and Makihouse kicked the old man into the sweet containers and he slid to the floor as his head started to bleed. Where oh where was Candy? She needed to inhabit her soul. This was a dead end. Time to go in search of Candy once more.

Part Four: The Strip - The Search for Candy continues

Date: 06/18/20
Time: :03:21 A.M
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada.

Still wearing the same clothes as earlier in the day Melissa Aki wandered along the strip, ignoring the looks from people. She studied these people and the way they walked and talked and hid their sexual deviances but now as she began shouting Candy at everyone who walked past her a young white male with a reddish complexion and long red hair stopped her in the middle of the strip outside a club called “Beat Off” and grabbed her arm.

“I would let go if I was you.”

“Chill, sugar, Look am letting go. You just seem lost in this big bad strip. I want to help you. Why are you screaming for Candy? Are you looking for some sweet stuff, honey?”

“Sweet like Candy?”

“Yes just like Candy. Let me show you where Candy is!”

She nodded as she was taken down an alleyway and her senses were strong. She wanted to snap his neck in two and rip his head from his shoulders but not yet. She enjoyed playing Melissa and no one knew she was Daniela the Demoness looking for Candy’s soul to reap.

He lead her up some path way, then some stairs and then to a room with big burly men on the outside. The man nodded at them and they opened the door. He shut it behind them and there was only a bed in the room. Daniela sighed as a lovely curvaceous african american woman walked through some secret passage.

“Hey Honey, I see you brought me some delightful sugar to chow down on. You know, Sergio, I do love me some Asian pussy.”

“I think she is a brit as well. “

“Delightful.”

“CANDY!”

“Oooh that accent. No wonder my panties fell off. Let’s get her ready oh and sugar I am Candy!”

Her eyes went pitch black as the naked woman and the man started to fondle her vessel. This...this is wonderful. Sinners and two souls to reap but oh vessel does not like and we must protect the vessel...but Candy?

“Candy. You’re THE Candy?”

She kissed the vessel’s mouth as he continued to fondle her and Daniela could feel Maki screaming stop inside of the mind of the vessel.

“I am Candy baby. All for you and Sergio. We are going to have so much fun. Why don’t you touch down here…”

With that she snapped the neck of the woman known as Candy and inhaled this mass of dark air spewing from her mouth and then stopped dead and let the body fall to the ground. She then Makihouse kicked Sergio so hard he went flying through the wall to the corridor outside. She inhaled his spirit too. She had finally taken the soul of Candy. Now she needed to see Persephone. With that a hole in the centre of the room got bigger and bigger with fire creeping out of it as Daniela disappeared and the hole filled up. Maki screamed in horror at the sight but she had been possessed long enough to know when Daniela has taken control of her and now she was back in charge of her being she had one thing to do before her debut against Candy.

Part 5: Up On a roof

Date: 06/19/20
Time: 11.35 A.M
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ever since the remarkable scene in the brothel Maki had been trying to outrun the law, the pimps and crazies of Las Vegas and somehow had wound up on the roof of the Bellagio. She looked down at all the ant like people milling around below her. All of them stuck in their own narcissistic agony, vying for attention and likes. Tick Tocking their way into the casino area to lose a lot of money. She always wondered why people loved it here? It’s like a big arcade for adults and just throws away their money they worked hard for over some pipe dream of riches. The House always wins. As she pondered her next move she received a text that her promo was due in so she strapped a go pro to her head and started to talk and get agitated.

“I have been around the world, I have wrestled some of the best in the business like Alicia Lukas but I have never had a place where all the world’s best convene. This is the ultimate test of how good I am in that ring and how tough and resilient I am. I know Candy is probably there thinking she is a former roulette champion and that in itself is no mean feat. I get it, Candy, I get you’re one tough cookie and you could easily score the win against me. I do not doubt that for one second. You are tough, tenacious and somewhat ditzy. My Homework suggests you use this mask and this persona to lull people into a false sense of security. I do not buy this naive charade of yours one bit. Your mask fell when you asked who I was. Come on. Everyone knows who Maki is! That was the first chink in your armor, honeylove.”

She smiled and bit her lip.

“I also know you just had an inferno match so no way will you be one hundred percent against me and I will use that against you. I have not come here to lose and lose to the likes of you who would be better off being a showgirl than an actual fighter or someone who can match me. This is my debut and you see me as someone you can easily vanquish then think again. I aim to make an example out of you. How will I do that? Easy. I will slowly and meticulously rip each mask you present to the world until the real Candy steps up and then she will have been degraded so much psychologically and physiologically that you will be begging for me to end your misery.”
She adjusted her Go Pro and looked down at the building and wondered what would happen if she jumped off.

“You see no matter what offence you put in, no matter if you cut me open I am always one Makihouse kick away from victory. I want you to make me bleed, Candy. I love it. I love to taste the bitter iron in my blood and I will love it even more to mix it with yours and suck that blood out of you until you become some ridiculous anemic pile of ash and cloud. I want you to give me everything you got. Empty your arsenal against me. I want you to. I dare you to. It won’t be enough. You already lost your inferno match. That makes me think you’re not as good as you believe and your airhead persona isn’t living up to the status you think it affords you. Do not believe you own hype as you’re nothing more than a low rent midcarder made to fill some spot because you do not have it in you to become a top contender. That roulette championship was disgraced by having you hold it with some stupud fluffy care bear running alongside you for god’s sake! You’re a damned mockery of a fighter and I will take so much pleasure in knocking you the hell out that I might do it a dozen freaking times!”

She stopped talking and took some deep breaths just like her meditation app had told her to in times like this.

“Look I am not here to beat the hell out of you and hate you forever. I get it you have been a champion and beaten all comers until you lost it but word of advice - you lost it. That doesn’t make you a champion. A champion doesn’t lose. You’re now in the former champion category like me but mine were elsewhere and you cannot be stuck in the past. You seem like a nice person and are probably loved here but when it comes to fighting and proving myself I will do whatever it takes to win. Hands down I will cheat, I will gouge out your eyes, I will break your limbs, drink your blood, con a referee to get what I want but that also doesn’t make me a bad person, Candy. It makes me a winner. Losses are a part of life and when the dust settles I hope you see this loss and learn from it. I hope you learn to never treat someone like they are a nobody. Everyone is somebody until someone breaks them in every way imaginable and that is what I plan on doing to you. For the victory. You have never ever faced someone like me before and you never will again. Underestimate me at your own damn peril. I am here to win and to win championships. I am here to face the best of the best and you’re not in that league so if I fail to beat you then I fail to live up to my expectations, my fans expectations and the owners as well. I will not do that and you will die on that cross you made when you dared to exclaim,’Who is she?’”

That anger rose in her again. Who is this brain dead prima donna of the midcard losers to ask her who she was? Some simpleton would never get the better of Melissa Aki!

“Honeylove, the situation in this match is pretty simple. I am going to run you over, you;re but an obstacle to overcome and always do defeat them. I have won one of my debuts and I will not lose this one not to a moron like you. So many people before me faced you and were fooled by this ditzy woman but not me oh and do not think I am taking you lightly because you’re fast in that ring and you like to leap around with high flying moves that will give you some seriously lucky wins but as you ascend to that top rope just remember that before you connect with said move my boot will be on the bridge of your nose in nanoseconds. I have seen what you can do and impressive as it is I will not let that happen. You will not succeed in ruining my day in the limelight for I have scouted you and know the perfect plan and how to execute it. You might think this move or that will hurt me but I love the pain of gladiatorial combat and I love the feeling when I put you down where you deserve to be. For I am Melissa Aki, the korean warrior, the dark demoness possessed nutcase who always finds a way to win. Your loss will be my victory and I will be the only one standing because failure, to me, is not an option!”

She takes off the Go Pro and leans over the edge again. She knows Candy will be a very severe test.She knows and believes in her words and her actions but she also will be woman enough to shake her hand afterwards unless of course she punts that dog into oblivion. This is a statement of intent and like these idiots below she will ride her luck, roll the dice and see if she is the winner with the killer instinct that she knows herself to be.